🗞️ Halifax woman on Top (Chef)

Happy Friday Halifax,

Here’s me just wandering around the city worrying about all the normal scary stuff, and now there are urban bears hanging around? This is just great!

Police in Dartmouth responded to reports of a black bear in a tree in the Dartmouth Commons yesterday. Residents were asked to stay away from the area and schools were placed on lockdown while officials dealt with the animal.

Officers from the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables later tranquilized the bear, and a crew of people responding had placed padding under the tree to ensure a softer landing, then removed the animal from the park.

Sadly, at the time of writing this, I do not have any video evidence of how this all went down, but I can’t stop picturing it going something like this:

Don’t come for me, that bear was fine, but the trampoline was objectively a bad idea.

Have a wild weekend! 🐻

– Julie

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌧️ 20°

Tomorrow: ☁️ 21°

Next Day: 🌤️ 19°

7-day forecast

🚗 Driving, biking or busing today? Check out the current traffic conditions and ongoing road closures.

💨 Here is Halifax’s Air Quality Index and the smoke report.

FOOD

Woman on Top (Chef)

Any good misogynist will tell you that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. But that exact same misogynist will tell you that a professional kitchen is no place for a woman. It’s one of the more perplexing sexist paradoxes.

Moira Murray is proving that a woman's place is actually wherever the hell she wants it to be.

The head chef of Halifax’s Peacock Wine Bar—where she leads a brigade of mostly women cooks—is putting her skills to the ultimate test as one of 10 creative and boundary-pushing chefs facing off on the popular tv cooking competition, Top Chef Canada.

The Coast’s Julie Lawrence caught up with Murray to talk about her career so far, being a woman in a professional kitchen, life at Peacock Wine Bar and the whole Top Chef Canada experience.

🤔 Need To Know

⛺ When the HRM closed two homeless encampments at downtown parks, it said extensive remediation would be needed because people living there had damaged the sites—but a professional assessment says that’s not true.

💊 The province has announced an expansion to the Community Pharmacy Primary Care Clinic program—14 new locations are being added to the program, bringing the total number of pharmacies to 45.

🌡️Wednesday’s heat in the Halifax area broke a 125-year-old record—the temperature reached 29.5°, breaking the previous Sep. 18 record of 28.9° set in 1899.

SPONSORED BY SHAFTESBURY

Murdoch Mysteries in Concert comes to Halifax

Join Symphony Nova Scotia for an evening of mystery and music at Murdoch Mysteries in Concert with star host Thomas Craig (Inspector Brackenreid).

Ticket holders are invited to purchase an exclusive post-show Meet & Greet with Thomas Craig!

Don’t miss this at Rebecca Cohn Auditorium on September 27 and 28.

NEWS + OPINION

RadStorm gets support from rad councillors

At City Hall, council chambers are getting renovated to become more accessible, so Halifax’s Community Planning and Economic Development Standing Committee met virtually on Thursday Sep. 19. 

The meeting was dominated by RadStorm’s plan to buy their 2177 Gottingen Street building, and their request for Halifax’s municipal government to pitch in with some funding. RadStorm members Capp Larsen and Lucas Goudie told the committee that a recent report highlighted Halifax's dire need for more arts spaces, with the lack of all-ages venues being labelled an “urgent gap.” Larsen and Goudie explained to the committee that when kids don’t have venues—like RadStorm—where they can go to shows or concerts before they turn 19, it’s likely they never get into the habit of going to concerts, which is quite detrimental to the long-term health of the music scene in Halifax. They also explained that the RadStorm space can be and is used by all sorts of creative types, of any age, because it’s a space for the community’s artists to rent space to do art. 

Also at this meeting, the committee learned that Discover Halifax has partnered with Telus to do some mass surveillance to help create Halifax’s 2030 tourism plan, a rural housing organization wants to see more backyard suites in rural areas and Halifax is going to figure out how to plan big parties. 

For more you can read Matt Stickland’s full report over on The Coast’s website.

🗞️ In Other News

🎣 Nova Scotia's fisheries and aquaculture minister says his federal counterpart's silence in response to calls for action against illegal fishing in the province sends a message to the industry and communities affected that she does not care.

🌪️ Nova Scotia is making sweeping changes to a bill that deals with how it responds to emergencies—including extreme weather events—with the goal of improving collaboration between municipalities and the province.

💸 Data shows that despite higher tuition rates and the rising cost of living, student loan and grant amounts have increased just once since 2013—students can receive a maximum provincial loan of $4,080 for a 34-week program, and a maximum grant of $2,720.

SPONSORED BY ARMDALE YACHT CLUB

Learn How to Sail This Fall at AYCSS!

Make the most of Nova Scotia's beautiful fall by learning how to sail!

AYC Sailing School's Fall Adult & Family Keelboating Program will introduce you to sailing in a fun and stimulating way.

The course is over two weekends: September 28, 29 and October 5, 6 from 9am-4pm.

Register here. 

🗓️ Things To Do This Weekend

Looking for something to do this week? Check out these Coast picks:

🗓 Gina Burgess Live at Stillwell Brewing: Recently recognized with an East Coast Music Award, Gina Burgess presents her debut album, ISNOW, accompanied by her full band. Reflecting her years living part-time in Nunavut, ISNOW gives rise to the images and soundscapes of the north. These original compositions highlight the intersection of jazz, Celtic, folk, classical, klezmer and contemporary Inuit throat singing. | Sep 20 | 8pm | $20

🗓 Fall Atlantic Maker Market: Discover a wide range of unique products from 85 incredible Makers in Atlantic Canada. Don't miss out on this opportunity to support local and find one-of-a-kind treasures for yourself or as gifts for loved ones. | Sep 20-21 | $6

🗓 Habitat's HUGE House Party: More than 600 attendees will gather to enjoy award-winning live local music, delicious food, exciting opportunities to win prizes and more while raising support for Habitat for Humanity Nova Scotia's work to help families in Nova Scotia build strength, stability and independence through affordable homeownership.| Sep 20 | 7pm | $125

🗓 Comedy Records Presents K Trevor Wilson and Friends: The Letterkenny star will perform at Spatz Theatre for one night only, featuring the self-proclaimed Man Mountain of Comedy hosting a showcase with some of Canada’s top comedians. | Sep 20 | 8pm | From $40.25

🗓 The Australian Pink Floyd Show: Having sold over five million tickets to concerts that have taken place in 35 countries, The Australian Pink Floyd Show is hailed as the biggest and most spectacular Pink Floyd show on the planet. And it’s coming to Halifax Friday night. | Sep 20 | 7:30pm | $58.50

🗓 Fire and Water Cultural Festival: This annual celebration of Nova Scotia’s unique cultural diversity brings two nights of live music, art, dance, storytelling and more to the Alderney Landing Events Plaza. | Sep 20-21

🗓 Exhibitions—East of East Atlantic Hip Hop Archive: This exhibition delves into the rich history of hip hop culture in the Atlantic Provinces dating back to the 1980s. Curated by Michael McGuire, the exhibition showcase a selection of digital and physical items from an archive of over 2,100 recordings, 400 posters and nine hours of video, along with 850 CDs, 165 cassettes and 280 vinyl records. | Sep 21-Nov 23  

🗓 Still Tho—Aesthetic Survival in Hip Hop’s Visual Art: An ode to the visual artists in Canada who shaped hip hop culture and its visual aesthetics. In this group exhibition featuring artists from across Canada, an array of mixed-media works explores the growth, influence and importance of graffiti art and its aesthetic legacies. | Sep 21-Nov 23 | Friday there’s a student preview event for Still Tho that you can learn more about at: Open Studio at MSVU

🗓 Worlds of the Night Opening with Special Guests: Ever wonder what comes alive when the sun goes down? Discover the secrets of how nocturnal animals see, hunt and thrive in darkness, presented by the Sherbrooke Museum of Nature and Science. | Sep 21 | 9am-4pm | $17.50

🗓 Back Issues Comicon: Back by popular demand! Come explore 33 tables of vendors, discover the best comic books and meet exciting comic guests! | Sep 21 | 9am-3pm | $3

🗓 Best Kind Comedy Tour: Setting sail for their sixth annual run in 2024, the Best Kind Comedy Tour features stand-up comedians Colin Hollett, Mike Lynch and Brian Aylward. | Sep 21 | 9pm | $32

Have an event to share? Let us know at [email protected].

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The Oceanex Sanderling container ship leaves Halifax for St. John’s at midnight.

🛳️ The APL Sentosa container ship arrives in Halifax from Colombo at 5:45am.

➡️ The Atlantic Sky container ship leaves Halifax for New York at 11am.

🛳️➡️ The Nolhan Ava container ship arrives in Halifax from St. Pierre at 8:15am and leaves for Argentia at 6pm.

🛳️➡️ The Insignia cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 11am and leaves for Canadian seas at 6pm.

🛳️➡️ The Norwegian Breakaway cruise ship arrives in Halifax at 8am and leaves for Canadian seas at 8pm.

🛳️➡️ The Atlantic Sea container ship arrives in Halifax from Liverpool at 10:20am and leaves for New York at 9pm.

🍴 Where To Eat & Drink

😀 Happy hour is so much more than cheap drinks (although they have those too) at Salt + Ash Beach House. The “midday” menu (available from 3-5pm daily) features jalapeno cornbread, itty bitty fried chicken and Tater Tot nachos.

🍹 Speaking of happy hour, drop by Bar Kismet for the signature cocktail, A Lover’s Fee: gin, sage and orange liqueur, campari, blackberry.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🎹 Up above, you read about Radstorm—Halifax’s space for do-it-yourself music and all-ages shows—asking the city for help to buy its building. But you can get in on the act, too. Through a bond program called RadBond, the venue at 2177 Gottingen Street is letting people contribute to the building fund. It’s a move the anti-capitalist non-profit says is necessary to avoid being priced out of their north end neighbourhood—where they’ve been located for over 15 years—due to rising rents. The Coast’s Brendyn Creamer has more on RadStorm’s plan to purchase its building.

✏️ If you’re in Grade 12 and don’t know what you want to do or be: don’t panic. It’s not too late. And, if you’re in Grade 10 or 11 and curious about how to even think these thoughts, PREP Academy can help. “As our coaches will tell you, there are multiple ways to get to your destination,” says Ashley Hill, founder of PREP Academy. Read more of The Coast’s Lauren Phillips’ conversation with Ashley Hill about the importance of the mentorship program.

🏥 A Halifax woman has taken the drastic measure of applying to end her life through medical assistance in dying—following several years of fighting the provincial health department for access to care outside of Nova Scotia.

That’s it!

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